Blog Archives

Good morning from wherever you read this. Woke up hoping Wenger never makes a “not in my lifetime” statement towards the Tots or Chelski to warrant a placard similar to Carlos Tevez’s now infamous one.

The Argentine has apologised, as have his club, saying he got carried away by the moment. Oh well, our team meanwhile stays focused on having a better campaign next season with van Persie set to commence talks regarding his future at the Ems.

According to BBC’s David Ornstein who broke the news, captain vantastic will meet up with le boss and Ivan Gazidis at Wenger’s abode on Wednesday, even stating a time for the meeting (10:30 BST).

Don’t get lost in excitement just yet, nothing is expected to be sealed then with the Dutch striker set to report for Holland’s Euro 2012 camp on Thursday.

We however do hope it sets in motion the process of an extension of his stay beyond what his current contract states, as well as ward off the suitors eyeing our prized asset.

Meanwhile speaking with the club’s website, van Persie had special praise for fans that cheered the team on at home and especially at away grounds.

“The away fans, they are always here, always singing, always cheering us up even when we are having a bad game, they are always behind us. A big thank you to all of them because they have been unbelievable.”

And he had this to say of the home support, “The last few months have been different class. Every single game – the Spurs game, the Milan game, you can name them all – unbelievable.”

Podolski Eager to Play Ball

Podolski in Arsenal jersey (via Arsenal.com)

Following a bitter-sweet campaign with Köln in which his commendable 18 goals were on the contrary not enough to prevent his hometown club from relegation, Lukas Podolski is ready to begin life at the Ems next season.

Speaking officially as a Gunner for the first time, the German forward said soeaking personally with Wenger through telephone conversations was one of the elements that convinced him to join us.

He also mentioned the Per factor, “He has mentioned things about the Club’s organisation, the training ground, the fans and this has really helped. It might have influenced me to a certain extent but in the end, of course, I took the decision myself.”

Thank you once again Per for the PR. And here we were thinking Vermaelen had done enough to convince Belgian compatriot Jan Vertonghen to follow suit and join but word is he prefers being a ‘neighbour’.

Nothing is confirmed yet however, just as it has gone mellow concerning French midfielder Yann M’Vila. The lull before the bang? We await.

Do follow us on twitter @goonermemoirs and have a great day ahead. Cheers.

Breaking news just reaching us is that Arsenal have officially completed the signing of German International Lukasz Podolski for a fee believed to be in the region of £10.9M. After months of rumors and speculation, the news is finally confirmed. Podolski had this to say about the deal.

“Arsenal provides opportunity to gain individual development and experience at a top European top club. I will always have FC Cologne in my heart, but Arsenal is a great opportunity in my career”

Just a day after confirming that Arsenal have been over reliant on RVP for the goals this season, he made his move on Podolski and it had been agreed since but the two clubs decided to put it on hold till season’s end.

For those wondering, despite playing for a team in the relegation mix pretty much all season, Podolski has 18 goals and 6 assists in 26 games. He’s definitely no Chamakh and his versatility(can play LF, RF & CF) is one welcomed by we fans.

With Podolski confirmed, and word from an inside source that Arsene wants to complete all his deals before the European Championship starts, you can expect the likes of M’vila(most likely to sign), Vertoghen/Giroud/Belhanda to follow suit. Great business it would be and just the right incentive for RVP to extend his contract. Have a great day.

Good day from wherever you read this from. Steadily, the tense, edge of seat moment of the league has come upon pretty much all the teams in the Premier League with QPR helping their cause at avoiding relegation last time out at the expense of our Gunners.

The boss could’ve blamed a lot of other factors such as the pitch but it’s refreshing that he laid it on the team for a performance that wasn’t “up to scratch”. Alas, it hopefully serves as a silver lining of sorts in our quest to end the season in third to thus bag a group stage ticket at next season’s (lucrative) Champions League.

Adel Taarabt’s “rinsing” of the Verminator for the first along with the below par performance of him and Koscielny on the day should be a “get your sh** together” call to the duo and indeed the rest of the team going into the final seven games of the season, starting with Man. $hitty’s visit this Sunday.

“At the end of the day the result does not lie. The focus was missing a little bit” said Wenger of the QPR loss, adding that :

“We have been consistent recently and you have to give credit to the team. But in this game we were poor and we were not good enough.”

So yes, it was a blip after going nine matches unbeaten but it being a blip can only be proven with a decisive victory this Sunday and after watching what Sunderland nearly pulled off at the Etihad honestly, we can get those three points and effectively hand the Red Devils their record making 20th league crown.

In all the above, I’ve not conveniently left out the fact that we have three teams right behind us; Newcastle United being the only one worthy mention, but purposely done so.

Other News……

In some other bit of news, eccentric goalie Jens Lehmann believes the Prince of Köln Lukas Podolski would synch in nicely at Arsenal though highlighted that Poldi will have to adapt to the pace of the Premier League along with expectations of winning.

Over at Spain meanwhile, Carlos Vela continues to invoke smirks from me after netting yet again in Sociedad’s 4-0 thumping of Rayo Vallecano. Not that he’s been prolific but you just wonder if he’d make a better option on the bench than, say… Chamakh?!

I’ll let it rest at this point and avoid going on a rant that would wind down to an abyss of pointlessness. Do share your thoughts in the comments though and have a fulfilling April ahead.

For all the talk in the media about Arsenal having already signed him, and in a sad turn of events, Cologne forward Lukaz Podolski has spoken to the German media about where he’ll “love” to play next summer.

Podolski whom we’ve been linked to for the past few weeks uncharacteristically spoke to a group of German journalists who waited for him near the team bus after yesterday’s Bundesliga game. He was probed on his summer plans after the Euros. Said He:

“It’s no secret my contract expires this summer. I’m 100% focused on Koln at the moment but I would not turn down a move to a bigger club. The manager tells me some clubs have enquired, Arsenal, PSG and Schalke but Lazio is a special proposition.”

Poldi thinks it will be an opportunity to link up with German national team mate Miroslav Klose and says he has already instructed his agent on his choice. It remains to be seen whether a deal can be struck.

Follow this link to read the full interview in German newspaper, Bild. There he speaks about other reasons for picking Lazio and his link to Arsenal.

I’m hugely disappointed things have turned out this way. He joins a long list of players we nearly signed. Ronaldo, Ibrahimovic, Essien, Cech and most recently, Juan Mata.

Let’s hope it’s just a ploy by Poldi to get Arsenal to pay him more or Koln’s way of upping the transfer fee.

Morning all. I hope you had an interesting weekend, considering there was no Arsenal game. For all my plans of a weekend dedicated to studying, I did zilch all weekend. It’s been a bit quiet on the Arsenal front as well, bar the usual transfer stories.

Meanwhile, I played footie with my mates yesterday and got injured yet again, so I’m not exactly in the mood to do anything. Straight to the post it is then.

Ajax’s Belgian captain, Jan Vertonghen makes Arsenal news again and he was on the score sheet this weekend which is good to know. He keeps talking up a move to North London but insists a move is far from done.

Joining Arsenal is certainly a prospect that appeals to Vertonghen, and it is believed he has already informed his Mr 10% that he would like to move to Arsenal, should the opportunity arise.

The only thing standing in his way is a fax letter carrying a concrete bid from London, and Vert hopes this letter arrives as soon as possible. Said He:

“If a club of Arsenal’s calibre can reach agreement with Ajax, then I will gladly go over.I have instructed my agent carefully…I haven’t signed anything with them yet.”

Good to know that we can still attract top quality players despite our failings this season. I would not mind having Vertonghen in my team, but the question is, will he be comfortable playing back up to Kos and Verm? Time will tell.

After last week’s dramatic Arsenal win over Newcastle at the Ems, RVP and Tim Krul made a good attempt at starting a riot on the pitch. According to The People however, both the Dutchmen have made up and put the incident behind them.

They have even gone as far as texting each other regularly. Apparently, Tim Krul did not realize he was wasting time and he felt RVP was trying to belittle him. It’s nice to know that episode is closed for good.

Onto more intersting news, Koln are to receive additional payments from Arsenal in Podolski’s proposed move to England. This is dependent on Arsenal’s performance on the fiels of play.

It is believed that the German outft will receive an extra €500,000 should the 26-year-old help us win the Premier League or Champions League during the 4 years of his contract.

There have been stories in the German media indicating that the Podolski transfer will be made official today. I’ll be over the moon if this happens as it sends a strong message to our competitors (and more importantly RVP) that we are ready to compete next season. Add two more quality players and we are good to go for next season.

That’s as it gets from me today fellas. It’s an unusally cold morning and I’m typing this in class as I cannot be bothered to learn anything this morning. There’s a possibility we’ll move the blog to a new domain today, all in a bid to serve you our amazing readers better.

We play Everton on Tuesday night, should be a good one. I’ll be here tomorrow with a preview of the game and hopefully with a link to pictures of Arsenal’s new signing.

Morning gooners. I apologize for the lack of action on the blog in the past few days. It’s due to educational engagements. Exams are drawing nearer and work’s piling up. Sincere apologies. Straight to the stories making rounds then.

Ajax have already started preparing for life after Jan Vertonghen. Ajax scouts have been spotted watching FC Twente’s Douglas in the past couple of weeks and manager Frank De Boer confirmed the move. Said He:

“It is correct that we are keeping tabs on Douglas as a potential replacement for Vertonghen.”

With the 24 year old Belgian defender having made his intentions known, only one destination seems likely.

The tables have changed slightly from last summer though; it’s no longer a question of whether Vertonghen wants to play for Arsenal (because he does), it’s a question of whether Arsenal want him.

Do we need another defender to add to those we’ve got? I doubt, except he’ll be willing to play as back-up. Since he can play anywhere across the back line, we could move Gibbs on. This leaves Andre Santos to slug it out with Vert for the LB slot.

Hey, I’m not calling for us to sell Gibbs right away, it’s only an option. I wouldn’t bet my money on us signing him though.

One player I’d bet my pension on him joining Arsenal is Podolski. A deal seems to have been struck but the journos were getting too excited when they said he had done a medical. His agent, Kon Schramm refuted the story completely.

“He was at no medical, neither in London or anywhere else.”

That was the same thing I said when the stories came up. This doesn’t mean we are less likely to sign him, the media are just getting ahead of themselves by completing the deal in the papers.

But both clubs are sensible enough to know that it’s a huge season for each. It only makes sense for each club to focus on football until the season is over.

Do I think he’ll sign? Absolutely!

So to some bad news. Per, the “Big F*ckin’ German” seems to have ended his own season according the manager. Mert4 got injured at Sunderland and he was ruled out for the long term.

He’s been penciled down to return in 6 weeks but with the season ending in about 10 weeks, Wenger does not believe he’ll be sharp enough to get fit, train and join the first team in a month.

Terrible news you say? Le Boss however laced it with some ‘feel-good’ pills. Andre Santos, Jack Wilshere, Coquelin and Diaby will be returning for the run-in.

I’m super excited to see all these players getting fit and they’ll only make our push for 3rd place stronger.

That’s it from me today. I have to get back to the books. It’s been a great few weeks on the Arsenal front.

Yes, I know we won’t be winning any trophies this season because Wenger didn’t do his bit over the summer.

But if you’re not excited about what’s going on in the club at the moment, I doubt you can ever be.

Keep Van Persie, add a couple of top signings and we’ll be pushing United off their “f*ckin’ perch!”

News just reaching us suggests that a deal has been reached for German forward Lukas Podolski to sign for Arsenal.

According to German expert, Raphael Honigstein, a deal has been finalized. A transfer fee of £10.3m, and 140k in wages is being mooted. Honigstein thinks the wages will likely include a huge sign-on fee.

Morning guys! I hope your night was good. Mine was off the charts ;-). It’s been an amazing couple of days in the Goonerverse, and things probably got even better last night.

German newspaper Bild suggests that FC Cologne have accepted an Arsenal offer for Podolski. The fee is thought to be in the range of £10.9m.

Podolski has been linked with us for some time now and while there has been no official confirmation from either club, it seems a deal for Poldi is only a matter of time.

Our Mert4, his mate in the national team has been on TV saying he’s exchanged text messages with Poldi concerning a move to Arsenal.

I feel different, happy, optimistic and hopeful. It’s been like forever that Arsenal are close to signing a player this long before the window shuts. A sign of more to come perhaps?

Meanwhile, Man City boss Mancini has been mouthing off in the media, waxing lyrical over how much of a good striker RVP. He called Robin “one of the best strikers in Europe”, like we don’t already know that.

It’s however interesting to note that he think Robin won’t be leaving this summer. Said He:

“I think all good teams are interested in Van Persie. He is a fantastic striker but I think he’ll stay at Arsenal…in my opinion, Van Persie will stay at Arsenal”

We can only pray Mancini is right for once. It’s becoming boring to hear people say we need him to stay but it’s the truth. I can confidently say no player exists than can do what he does for the club at the moment.

You know why? It takes skill, class, persistence and above all, an undying and monogamous love for the Arsenal to churn out such performances week in week out!

That’s yer lot for today mates! It feels good to be back blogging. How I’ve missed it!

Let’s hope we get some official confirmation or at least some more concrete news today. Not a bad time to be a gooner, eh?

Quick question just before I go? Where does Podolski fit into all these? Will we see a change in formation next season? The 4-4-2 we’ve been begging for perhaps? Or is Poldi (dare I say) a replacement for RVP?

Top of the morning to you wherever you’re reading this from, or should I say Hi 5-2 you all?. Well then, straight to the post shall we.

News broke yesterday and twittermania ensued that we’ve agreed terms with Lukasz Podolski to join us in the summer with the only thing remaining now is a deal with the club. I wanted to doubt it seeing as its season ticket renewal time but from what we heard, we agreed a couple of deals in January but agreeing with their respective clubs was the problem.

If this is true(which I believe it is) then that’s a good move and he’s NOT going to be a replacement for RVP. He’s very versatile and can play on the left of a 4-2-3-1(4-3-3) formation or behind the main striker or alone upfront as he’s done for Cologne thus far. So that’s one down, hopefully 3 more signings to come(a DM, AM, Winger).

Four players might not be enough but its a good start, because if you look at the players leaving us this summer(Arshavin,Bendtner,Chamakh,Squillaci,Denilson,Diaby(50:50),Benayoun(back to Chelsea) ) we should replace at least 3 of them and then promote from within. And don’t tell me about how signing established players will hinder growth, instead it only helps(look at United, Bayern & Barca to name a few). M’vila, Gotze, Hoiliet maybe? And then move Walcott forward? Let’s wait and see.

PLAYER NEWS

Andre Santos…….
The defender tweeted with his account yesterday that he’s back in 2 weeks and to me that’s great news as we all know Gibbs can’t play back to back games without a knock. So that’s very great news as we now have 2 LB’s and 2 RB’s(Sagna & Jenkinson) and won’t have to play anyone out of position again.

Someone asked me on twitter yesterday if I see Wenger buying a defender and I said NO. Why you ask? Well by beginning of next season, we’ll have Sagna, Jenkinson, Gibbs, Santos, Vermaelen, Koscielny, Mertesacker in the first team, that’s Seven defenders and I didn’t include Miquel, Bartley, Djourou.

Maraoune Chamakh…….

Fiorentina are rumored to be interested in taking the forward off our books permanently and I say we should jump at whatever offer as I’m sure he’s ready to leave. Will it leave us short when he, Park & Bendtner leave in the summer? Maybe. But if we can get the aforementioned players and with the attackers we have already, it shouldn’t be a problem.

Van Persie has been talking of late about his love for the club and the papers reported it this morning that he told the dutch coach he sees his future at Arsenal. Its simple, give him the salary he wants, if its 150k/w or 130k/w with a lot of add-ons and a huge signing off fee. He’ll stay because he loves the love club, he just wants to sit with the gaffer come end of season, know what the clubs plans are and then hopefully sign the extension/new deal.

No club football this midweek as its International week and a lot of our players will be in action. One game to look out for is England-Holland. I hope Van Persie is rested to keep him fresh. From wherever you are, have a solid day. Cheers.

Imagine my joy when I first heard that the deal to bring Henry back for 2 months was in the pipelines. 4 years ago when he left, I never though he would return to Arsenal in a playing capacity, as a coach maybe, but lo and behold, its here. The club legend is back.

Chamakh can’t impress anyone, his body language reeks of sulking, like a kid who had his candy collected by his parents for being naughty but can’t complain. Park? I don’t even think we bought him for sporting reasons seeing as he hasn’t even made a substitute appearance in the league. So the return of Henry is much welcomed.

John Cross of the Daily Mirror made a very important point last week when the news broke, he said “the signing of Henry would be wonderful for Arsenal so long he’s not the only signing and proper acquisitions werte made”, but it looks like AW is going to be very foolish and do what he’s always done, get bargain transfers and return the money to the board.

With the obvious deficiencies in the squad, Wenger came out yesterday and said that“he’s not looking to make permanent deals and possibly make only loan signings as he has a large squad”

In so doing, ruling out any Podolski, Gotze, Hazard or full back moves.

Really? Large squad? Since when did large squad mean quality squad? I’ll wait. We have a large squad consisting of dead weights(Arshavin, Chamakh, Squillaci), seasoned crocks(Diaby, Rosicky), and Park. That’s 6 first team players with two of those out of contract in the summer. Why not sell them seeing as there’s interest in 3(Arshavin,Chamakh,Rosicky) and replace them now instead of waiting till the summer?

Instead of rejoicing about Henry returning, I’m here dismayed at the reasoning of Wenger. Needless to say, we’re doing little to persuade RVP to sign on or show ambition. But when I remember how before the season started and Gazidis said its “Cool” if we don’t make the champions league next season. SMH

QPR PREVIEW
There’s really not much to say here, Walcott is fit after a stomach bug kept him out of the last game, so expect him and Ramsey to return and Benayoun & Rosicky to drop out. I have a funny feeling RVP won’t start the game as its not possible for him to play tomorrow and then on Monday at Fulham again. So I expect the squad to look like this.